2011 fireworks and firecrackers review

I’ve always made it a point to get some fireworks every year during Chinese New Year to properly get into the festive spirit. I have a lot of photos of the variety available this year at the store but I took it using my iPhone, which was stolen during CNY so I’m left with the ones taken using the digicam I used to film this year’s pyrotechnics. T_T

No matter – even though my budget for firecrackers and fireworks this year is significantly reduced, I still managed to get some gems.

25 shot cake configuration (RM 100)

This 25 shot cake contains 5 different types “effects” in a cake configuration. You’ll notice that this is taller than the other one – the reason for the height merely indicates how high it will go. Taller cake configurations shoots the conflagration higher up in the sky while more compact ones goes lower.

It also has a larger diameter, which allows for bigger fireworks. However, the optimal viewing angle has to be taken into account – you’ll need to be further away to fully appreciate this without craning your necks. The shorter ones can be let off at a lesser distance and it still goes high enough so you can admire the bursts of color and sound.

Here’s the video of this firework in action. It’s rather disappointing since the next one (which is half the price) produces a better effect. I’ll give this a pass next year.

49 shot cake configuration (RM 50)

This beautifully made firework cake produces 7 different type of effects with an amazing ending. Kudos to the manufacturer for this impressive display.

This is the video of this cake – there’s a nice variety among the shots and the climax is beautiful. I’ll say this is the best value for money this year.

This comes highly recommended and I’ll be getting more of this next year. :)

2” display shell (RM 15)

This is a consumer grade firework that shoots out 2 inch shells instead of the usual 1.5 inch ones. I was very surprised at the price since a similar looking 1.5” display shell was going for RM 30.

It contains 6 individual shells which you put into a disposable cardboard launcher (included) before lighting the fuse.

This is what it looks like – you can see that I accidentally burnt my fingers on the fuse in the video. Heh!

I finally realized why this box of “fireworks” is so cheap. It’s not fireworks at all – the 1.5” display shells launches with a burst of color while this just produces a sound.

It’s basically just a glorified firecracker but for the price and the sonic effect, I can’t complain.

The only downside to the cylindrical design is that sometimes the entire shell does not eject, leaving the cylinder still inside the launcher. This can be a Bad Thing (TM) if you don’t realize it coz if you put another one in, it’ll stack up and run the risk of blowing up on the ground.

I’ll still buy this for the bargain basement price but be sure to check the launcher after you let one off to see that the shell has been fully ejected.

Anyway, I got this idea to play Jackass Badminton during Chinese New Year – this requires two people with two rackets. One person lights the firecracker and serves, and you both hit the burning firecracker with your badminton rackets until it explodes. I didn’t get to play it but Willie managed to find some original Thunder Kings when this idea was conceived.

Thunder King / Crazy Bang

This is what the original Thunder Kings are like – it’s a huge ass firecracker with much more flash powder and explosive potential than other similar high grade firecrackers (e.g. chai lei, da di lei gong etc).

Interestingly, this time it’s labeled Crazy Bang and it is ALSO called da di lei kong (literally “gigantic earth thunder”) in Chinese. It comes in a pack of 5. There is no fuse visible – you’ll have to break the paper at the top to pull the fuse out.

Check out the video of this baby.

Despite the similarity in name to Da Di Crackers, this is much more powerful than the red ones. It’s exactly the same as Thunder King with the base removed.

Intense. I remember people using this during my schooldays with a delayed fuse (usually a mosquito coil) in the toilets to break the cistern. Pity the fool who is taking a dump when one of this goes off.

28 thoughts on “2011 fireworks and firecrackers review”

Yeah, the Thunder King / Crazy Bang is one of the more powerful firecrackers out there. It’s loud and it’s explosive. The less academic minded high school students use this with a mosquito coil as a fuse (to avoid being detected and associated with planting it) during the weeks leading up to CNY holidays and plants it in the toilet cistern.

The cracker is enough to actually blast through and break the plastic cistern. The schools have to replace it and it drives the administration nuts. :)

Happy CNY to you HB. Boy, you still enjoying those stuff. I gathered that the blasting atmosphere no longer what it used to be. I remembered last time back in the 80s, CNY eve in Sibu was like a war zone, very tense. The fun went on hours after hours of heavy blast and you can tell just by looking at the aftermath near alley like Tiong Hua Rd, Tong Sun, Hua Kiaw, it was “red” all the way.

Yup, it’s awesome! I love cake fireworks but it’s aways a bit of a hit and miss thing unless you go to a preview event and see how it looks like. Sometimes you chance upon a good one, sometimes you don’t. :)

Heh! Well, luckily in Sibu we don’t have this problem this year. People are letting off fireworks and firecrackers and no sight of any uniformed people anywhere. I guess being a predominantly Chinese town with a traditional heritage does have its advantages sometimes. :)

Hi. I’m Singaporean.. I was planning to head over to Malaysia during Chinese new year. But heard from my friends that it is alrd banned. I would like to ask, may I know where can I buy? Or do I have to go to kampong areas? Pls do reply me thru email. Thank you so much